


Tomorrow is Another Day

by Marioexpert



Category: After Hours (1985)
Genre: An American Werewolf in London reference, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Depression, Emotional, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Guilt, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23546554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marioexpert/pseuds/Marioexpert
Summary: From the 1985 Martin Scorsese film "After Hours" Paul Hackett may have escaped the dark of the SoHo district in New York City, but there are things that he has not yet escaped from: what he did SoHo & what SoHo has done to him in. Spoilers for those who have not seen "After Hours"
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Tomorrow is Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Really wish a lot of people talk about After Hours, it's a really entertaining and good film to watch. And it's even weirder that despite being another good Martin Scorsese film, it has been overlooked.
> 
> If you have not watched After Hours yet, give it a watch! It's definitely a movie worth watching, from the characters to the settings, it feels very relatable (at least for me)
> 
> I'm also probably the first person to make an After Hours fanfic story since I couldn't find anyone else having done a fanfic story from After Hours. Can say it motivates me more to make one.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Again, if you haven't watched After Hours, give it a watch!

***GOOD MORNING, PAUL***

Relief. It's all that Paul's feeling the moment he sits down and stares down at the computer screen greeting him good morning, as if he just woke up this morning, got ready, and came here for another usual day at work. Relief.

Paul sighs and relaxes, his body feeling completely sore from all the running and injuries he had to endure for the whole night. It doesn't help that he never slept at all. Since he never slept, his drowsiness begins to take a hold on him with all the adrenaline going down after what shit he had gone through the whole night, his eyes slowly closing as if he was about to sleep. Just as he was actually about to fall asleep unbeknownst to him,

"Morning, Paul. Another day at work, huh?" a fellow co-worker greets Paul, waking him up with a surprised look.

"Oh… Uh… Yeah, another day at work." Paul laughs, though hiding the feeling of nervousness.

"Are you alright, Paul? You look like you were in front of a building that just got demolished."

Paul looks down at himself, his suit covered with dust stains that came from the plaster of Paris.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just did some cleaning in my apartment earlier." Paul felt pretty stupid coming up with this lie.

"I…see… Well, you might wanna clean yourself, Paul. You looking pretty dirty right now." The co-worker cracked a joke with a laugh, trying to lighten Paul up.

Paul laughs along with it, although making sure his laugh didn't sound fake cause he isn't in a really good mood right now.

Paul removes his white jacket and hangs it on his office chair before he walks to the restroom. When he reaches the restroom, he goes to the sink and looks in the mirror. Paul's head is covered in plaster of Paris dust, making him look as pale as a ghost, his eyes red and eyebags under them from the lack of sleep. He looks very tired and exhausted, his face looking dead. Paul snaps out of his thoughts that he ended up being lost in and washes himself, washing away every dust that's still on his face and hands.

When he looks into the mirror again, he's no longer covered in dust, but instead completely wet. However, his face still looked pale, just not as pale as before because of the dust. Paul begins to recollect what he had gone through last night when…

_Marcy…_

Paul soon breaks down in tears and begins to sob in guilt. Remembering what he had done to the girl he ended up completely misunderstanding, which made her kill herself, his own phobia of burns and thought of her being a liar having killed her. He never knew her at all and as what Horst said about what Paul did to Marcy, it was very shameful of him to do that to her.

_I don't even...I don't even know this girl...at all..._

It's suicide, but who triggered it? It was Paul Hackett, a bored word processor who completely dumped her like nothing.

It wasn't suicide, it was murder. Paul killed Marcy.

The very thought of it made Paul cry harder… Something he never did earlier that night after leaving Kiki's place to leave the cops to handle the case cause he was too busy worrying about going home, dealing with Julie, and returning Tom the bartender's apartment keys to him and getting back his deposit key.

His deposit key.

_Dammit! It's still with him!_

Paul realizes he left his deposit keys back in SoHo with the bartender.

Well, it would be dangerous to go back to SoHo when there are people who still think he's the burglar that's been robbing their apartments, and they would pummel his face until he's unrecognizable like the unfortunate man who suffered that fate for whatever reason.

However, with what happened that night, causing a nice girl to kill herself, which also upsets the bartender cause she was his girlfriend. Paul started to think that he deserves to get his face pummeled and body torn, limb to limb.

He looks up to see his face, stained with tears. He looks at himself as depression turns into rage, angry at himself for all of this to happen to him in one night. It was the worst night of his life. He yells and almost punches the mirror, but instead slams his fist on the sink. Luckily, no one else is in the restroom. Paul is alone.

He begins to cry again as more tears slip through his cheeks. He may not be a burglar at all and never robbed their apartments, but he did robbed two things; someone's life and someone's love.

Paul continues to cry, not knowing he had been stuck inside the restroom for too long until someone enters the restroom. This surprises Paul and is reminded he is not home, not home yet. He's at work. He stops crying right away, making sure whoever it was did not see or hear him, and washes his face, washing away tears and tears stains in his face. Paul hurries himself out of the restroom.

"Sorry, excuse me, sir." Paul was looking down, trying to hide his pale and sad face from whoever he was passing through. Luckily, the person doesn't care about why Paul's acting in a hurry.

As Paul walks back to his workspace, he decides that he'll pass by at the bank to pay for the loss fee for losing his deposit keys and be able to get new keys during his work break.

Yeah, it's pretty pricey, but it's better than to risk going back to SoHo just to find some keys.

* * *

"Well... I might as well wait for some time till I get new keys for my deposit box..." Paul sighs as he, along with the recently hired Lloyd, who wanted to tag along with him in going out to the bank during the break, exit the bank and just need to wait for some time, probably a day or what, for his new keys.

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Hackett, what happened to your keys?"

"I lost my keys while walking home from work." Paul really doesn't want to talk about what he went through that night.

"How?" Lloyd, however, persisted asking. Paul sighs with a hint of frustration.

"I don't know. I tried looking when I noticed it was missing, can't find it. Probably someone, maybe a thief or what, just took it and never bothered looking, ok. Right now, doesn't matter. Already paid for new keys. Is there anything else you want to ask, Lloyd?"

"Nothing." Lloyd may have gotten the message that Paul isn't in a really good mood and decided to lay it off and just walk with Paul back to their workplace.

Although while Paul, at first, wanted to just go alone, when Lloyd insisted that he wanted to go with Paul, Paul declined at first, but when he left the building, he gradually started to feel as though someone might be following him or even chasing him. His paranoia from the angry mob that chased him and wanted to pummel his face to death and afraid they might follow him all the way here relentlessly to chase him again, he quickly heads back to the building and asks Lloyd if he can still walk with him. Good thing, Lloyd said yes and went along with Paul to the back. Paul may just be acquaintances and officemates with Lloyd, but he at least appreciates his company with him. It makes him feel safe, at least for now. Last time he thought he felt safe hanging with someone, that someone ended up selling him out to the angry mob just shortly.

Thinking about that, Paul felt betrayed and upset by Tom. He has almost always been honest with Tom and was one of the only people Paul does feel ok with, along with Kiki, Gail, and June. Sadly, all except June, who saved him from them, in the end decided to chase after him and kill him for a crime he never committed at all. Although, Paul wondered if Tom may have knew that Paul was involved in Marcy's suicide and decided to sell him out out of anger. That or Paul should've acted more level-headed to make himself look more honest as his panic and hysteria got the best of him and made him look like he completely lost it.

As the two word processors walk around the corner, just right where their workplace is at, Paul snaps out of his thoughts by a faint ice cream music that gradually grew louder. Paul looks up to see a Mister Softee ice cream truck that is driving towards him. Paul begins to feel dread seeing the truck driving closer.

"Oh, hey. It's a Mister Softee. I used to love eating their ice cream. You want one, Mr. Hackett?"

"Um...no thanks." Paul laughs nervously, not feeling like he wants a Mr. Softee ice cream.

"Are you sure, Mr. Hackett? The ice cream's really good."

"I'm good, Lloyd. Thanks, I'm not really hungry at the moment." Paul smiles reassuringly, trying to hide his paranoia from his officemate.

"Alright, I'll just get one myself. Are you going to go ahead inside, sir?"

"Yes, Lloyd. I'll just go ahead. I'll see you later." Paul nods as he quickly walks inside the building and hides as the Mr. Softee truck stops at where he was standing with Lloyd. While Lloyd is buying himself an ice cream, Paul checks on who's at the driver's seat. Turns out, it was just some guy.

"Oh, thank god it's not her..." Paul sighs in relief that it wasn't Gail.

However, when he turns to whoever Lloyd was asking in front for whatever ice cream he wants from, it was a blonde girl and she eerily looks like Gail. Dread hits Paul again like his guts are going to explode. Paul faintly overhears Lloyd having a little chat with the ice cream girl before he got the ice cream he wanted. The ice cream truck then drives away, the ice cream tune now sounding softer until the truck's too far to be heard. As Lloyd is about to enter while eating his ice cream, Paul fixes himself and tries to make sure he didn't look like he was spying on Lloyd for some weird reason.

"Oh, Mr. Hackett. Were you just waiting for me, sir?"

"Um...yeah, I was waiting for you. Just want to make sure you do return after buying that ice cream." Paul clears his throat.

"So...who was that lady you were uh...talking to? You ask her name or something?"

"Yeah, sir. The ice cream lady's pretty nice, her name's Marcy."

"Oh." _Thank god..._

It is reassuring that the ice cream lady isn't really Gail herself, but it is also unsettling that her name is the same as...

Paul abruptly stops his thoughts, not wanting to deal with at the moment in front of Lloyd.

"Why do you ask, Mr. Hackett?"

"Nothing. She does seem...pretty... Anyway, let's go up and get back to work shall we?"

"Alright." The two enter the elevator going up back to their workspaces.

* * *

Thankfully for Paul, after the bank and the run-in with a Mister Softee truck, nothing else eventful or what happened for the rest of the day. It's already dusk and everyone's work hour has ended.

Paul shuts down his computer and puts on his jacket (still dirty from the rain, injuries, and plaster dust) and stands up to walk to the elevator.

Then, a couple of his officemates, who are also friends with Paul, calls.

"Hey, Paul! You wanna go hang out with us at a club?"

"No, thanks. I'm just so exhausted from work. I just want to go home right now, thanks" Well, Paul isn't just exhausted from work.

"Oh, come on, Paul! All work and no play makes Paul a dull boy! We're just gonna head over to SoHo at Club Berlin! We might meet some hotties there! Haha!"

Paul sighs in frustration, he doesn't feel like he wants to go to a club, but even worse, he doesn't want to go back to SoHo just to hang around at Club Berlin.

"Look, I'm really tired. Thanks, but I'm not in any mood to hang out in some club. Thanks for the offer, guys."

"Alright, suit yourself, Paul." The guy shrugs as the elevator door opens and Paul quickly goes inside the elevator before it closes and goes all the way down.

In the elevator, beside Paul, is a woman in a business suit, must be coming from the floors above Paul's floor. The woman looks beautiful with her fair skin and brown hair. Paul just stands in the elevator that's going all the way down to the ground floor, ignoring the lady beside him.

"You look exhausted." The woman comments on Paul's appearance.

"Oh, just tired from work that's all."

"I see. Well, we do see each other quite often when work's done and we take the same elevator sometimes."

"Yeah. I notice."

"Say, do you wanna go and have some coffee together? Just to have some time to have a good time, away from how boring work is? Hehehe" The woman giggled.

The woman started to remind Paul of Marcy and it's not something he wants to think of. He also isn't really in a mood to go on a date anymore after that night.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm really tired. I'm really, really tired. I don't feel like I want to go have coffee with someone right now, thank you."

 _Never. Again._ Well, Paul can go on a date again, but he isn't thinking of going on a date any time soon. His last date ended in disaster and got someone dead and almost got himself killed.

"Oh... Alright... Well, if ever you are interested, we can exchange numbers."

"Not now, thank you. I'm really just not in a good mood... No offense..." Paul sighs.

The woman sighs sadly, "Alright... But, no offense taken."

 _Oh, thank god._ At least she isn't the type who'll yell and throw a fit... Paul feels reassured that the woman did not take his rejection too harshly and understands that he just doesn't feel like hanging out with anyone at the moment.

The elevator finally reaches the ground floor and the two walk out of the elevator and exit the building where they both part ways. Paul looks up to see a sunset, the sky turning into a darker orange as the sun continues to go down to let night take over.

* * *

Paul runs straight to his apartment as he still feels paranoid that someone or the angry mob might be chasing after him all the way from SoHo just to destroy his face and tear him apart. He quickly enters his apartment building and quickly enters the elevator that just opened with a couple of other residents of the apartment building. It takes a while to reach his floor, especially with two floors that they have to stop first for the other residents to exit. He still feels paranoid, being surrounded by other residents he hasn't thought of knowing, and thinks that they'll try to strangle him or something. He starts to feel claustrophobic for a moment, he could hardly breathe. But after stopping for two floors, the elevator finally reaches Paul's floor and Paul tries to move through a couple of residents in front of him to the elevator door.

"Sorry, excuse me. This is my floor." Paul excuses himself politely as they make way for him to exit the elevator. Paul quickly walks to his apartment and unlocks his apartment door before walking in quickly. He closes the door right away and locks it pretty tight, afraid that the door might break down by the mob. Paul backs up against the door and sighs in relief, his eyes, still tired from the lack of sleep, closes in relief as well as he slides down to his knees, his body still sore.

It was a long day. A really REALLY LONG day, because he never slept and it felt like he went through a lot in 48 hours.

The first thought Paul has in mind is a hot shower. He looks at himself and feels like he's so dirty, feeling so impure from going through a lot of hell from last night. Paul goes straight to his bathroom and strips himself off of his dirty and tattered clothes, he'll get those clean soon. Naked, Paul enters the shower and lets a torrent of hot shower water rain down on him. Paul washes himself with shampoo and soap, washing away the rest of the plaster dust that was still on him as well as the paper mache that were still sticking to his left arm and his body.

Despite already cleaning his whole body, feeling fresh. Paul held on the wall with one hand while looking down at the shower drain, watching the water wash away the dirt. He didn't sob or whimper, but he begins to silently cry, tears from his already tired eyes flowing through his cheeks before they drip from his chin and drops on the water that is draining away into the drain.

_All I wanted...was to just have fun for once...in my life...Just leave my apartment and meet a nice girl...Have a good time...Get some color in my life cause it's been boring for a long time...Wake up...eat...work...rest...again...I wanted...to do something different...exciting for once in my life..._

Paul began to sob and shut his eyes weakly.

_What...did I ever do...to deserve all this...? All this...when I just want to meet a girl... Why..._

Paul slowly shakes his head and begins to sob uncontrollably. He never felt this broken in his entire life.

He finishes his shower and begins to get himself dressed in his sleepwear, wearing a white shirt and a blue-white striped pajama pants. He washes his face and looks at himself in the mirror.

He looks a lot cleaner than earlier today, his hair still damped. But he still looks exhausted, but on the bright side, he doesn't look pale anymore, likely since he doesn't really feel paranoid anymore and has washed away the remaining plaster dust.

Paul goes to his small kitchen and checks in the fridge for any leftovers from his recent takeouts. He went for the Chinese noodles and put it in the microwave to heat it while he went to a glass of water. He didn't realize until now that he's very thirsty and started to drink a lot of water, likely from the exhaustion from both work and his very eventful night that left him very fazed.

The microwave finishes heating the Chinese noodles and Paul takes it out and begins eating. He notices just now as well that he's very hungry, he hasn't eaten much today, having kept himself occupied with work and just minding his own business, not wanting to be with anyone at that time.

The word processor decides to eat on the couch and watch whatever movie or show is up. Upon turning on his television, he is met with the opening credits of An American Werewolf in London, the slow and soothing song of Bobby Vinton's song, Blue Moon, ringing into Paul's ears. The song really felt soothing for Paul, making him feel relaxed, watching the opening go through the different parts of the peaceful looking British valley and moors. Paul finds time to watch movies he finds enjoyable to watch. While horror isn't really his favorite genre to watch, especially since recently, he starts seeing pretty predictable cliches and tropes that are starting to get old that he doesn't bother watching them anymore, he has enjoyed watching some horror flicks like Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, and Carrie. Unfortunately, An American Werewolf in London isn't among the horror films he wasn't able to watch, but he did want to watch it when it showed in theaters, but couldn't find the time to watch because he was too busy with work at the time.

Paul, despite his eyes tired, doesn't feel sleepy for some reason, so he decides to let himself watch the film. He heard that it's a horror comedy film, he hasn't really seen one before, but finds it interesting to give it a watch and see how it's seen as one of the best werewolf films ever made.

Paul watches the film on his couch while eating his dinner, he sees David Naughton as David Kessler and Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman. Paul remembers seeing David Naughton in that Dr. Pepper commercial he has seen a couple of times when he gets bored and decides to channel surf through the television to see whatever can catch his eyes. What really gets Paul, however, is Griffin Dunne. His office mates and friends were not even kidding about that actor, both Jack and Griffin share an uncanny exact resemblance of each other. They might as well actually be twin brothers or something. Paul would be teased sometimes by his friends and officemates by calling him Griffin or Jack Goodman, even so far as to pretend they're starstruck and ask him for his autograph. Before, Paul felt bewildered as he doesn't understand why they're playing around with him. Now, when he is watching the movie, he clearly sees and understands why.

Paul shakes his head and laughs, thinking himself ridiculous that he looks exactly like the actor.

He continues watching the film, feeling fascinated and entertained at how well they've done both the horror and funny scenes. He also enjoys seeing the scenes with Jack, giving Paul an impression that Griffin's not just a really good actor, but a nice guy to hang out and chat with, whether in a bar or cafe. Imagining he's a twin of Griffin, Paul thinks he's a washed down version of him. He isn't really one who talks a lot and much like Griffin does in his scenes. It could be just from the way he's doing his role in the film, but looking at Griffin so far, he seems to be the kind of guy he'd like to be friends with. Paul can't help, but feel pretty jealous of how Griffin (or Jack, he is playing the role after all) sounds very charismatic. Paul knows he can be charismatic, but not as charming as Griffin. He wishes that he could be just as lively as Griffin from the way he acted in the film, especially with how he's feeling about himself.

Paul notices, however, that he's beginning to feel too lost in his thoughts again and decides to continue watching the film.

* * *

Paul felt pretty bittersweet from the ending. Yeah, the monster that is the werewolf was stopped, but David died for it. He can't help but feel sad that both David and Jack died when they just want to have a great time in Europe. Instead, they randomly got caught up in some werewolf attack and both were killed. This is one of those horror cliches that he's already getting sick of, no happy endings. A horror film either ends with the villain or monster coming back, especially for ridiculous and illogical reasons, or everyone just dies in the end. And if neither of those kinds of endings happened, it'll just be something so bittersweet and melancholic.

"Geez... Why do horror films have to always end sad or bad...? Isn't there even at least a horror flick that does end optimistically...?" Paul eye rolls in annoyance, but nevertheless, Paul enjoyed the film and understands how it's considered to be one of the best werewolf films ever made. The werewolf attacks, the funny moments, and definitely, the werewolf transformation scene. Paul really felt yikes and disturbed seeing how David went through that transformation, it looked excruciatingly painful. The effects were really on point and definitely a moment to remember from the film. Although the thought of seeing it end abruptly to David's corpse does get Paul irked.

Paul begins to ponder whether it's even possible for horror films to have happy endings, it also gets annoying these kinds of endings are just meant to set up cash grab sequels. This is pretty much why Paul isn't a fan of watching horror flicks, those and usually, the characters just end up being stupid.

As he ponders whether horror movies actually have good endings, he thought about his night back in SoHo. His experience in SoHo did feel crazy and terrifying with how the people there can be, he isn't sure if he can trust anyone there if he ends up being in SoHo for whatever reason. He wouldn't call his experience as something straight out of a horror film, felt more of a thriller film.

While he's still in his thoughts...

"Why don't you just go home?"

"I've been asking myself that one, all night long."

"So what happened? Why can't you?"

"I've met this girl tonight, ok? In a coffee shop."

Paul looks up in surprise to see that it's a trailer for a movie, he recognizes his voice, but he didn't say thing, it was Griffin Dunne on television. Surprising how similar Griffin's voice is with Paul's voice. But what actually surprised him was the lines Griffin and whoever he talked to in the beginning of the trailer said, those words exactly are what he and the man who let him in his place to let him use his phone as well as let Paul vent out and rant about how bad his night went said to each other. Paul watches the trailer, wide eyes.

"Am I dreaming?" Paul begins to question his sanity as the trailer he's watching is basically how his night went in a nutshell. The trailer ends with a title, "After Hours". It's a Martin Scorsese film. Turns out After Hours is now showing in theaters.

Is this some kind of way for the universe or whoever is this high above to mock and torment him of happened that night? Everything about that film shouts "Yeah, this is basically a story of you getting fucked in one night, turned into a film for everyone to see your torment and shame."

Paul doesn't feel happy to see a film being that close to his experience. The big coincidences that have been poking fun on him have never stopped.

Paul turns the television off right away and heads straight to the bathroom. He grabs his hair with both arms while exhaling in frustration.

He may have escaped from death in SoHo, but whatever has happened to him that night, he will never escape from it.

He can never escape how he wanted to do something fun for once ended up in disaster...

He can never escape how a simple misunderstanding has caused someone to kill herself...

He can never escape how the people he met are, coincidentally, connected with the girl he misunderstood...

He can never escape what SoHo had done to him...

He can never escape...

Paul begins to wonder if there has been any bright side with his life at all. Life felt ok for Paul until he graduated from college and began to work as an ordinary word processor. It has been a very dull life for Paul and he wanted to do something to make life not feel dull anymore.

Well, that night did, but maybe overdid it and not in a good way.

Paul sighs "What is even the bright side of all this...?"

Just as Paul asks himself, he hears his telephone ring.

 _Geez, who'd be calling me at this time?_ Paul frowns in confusion, no one would be calling him at this time unless it's a big emergency from his family or his friends.

Paul heads to the telephone and answers. He slowly brings the receiver up to his head.

"...Hello?"

"Hello. Um...is this...Paul Hackett?"

"Um...yeah... This...uh...this is Paul Hackett... Who is this?"

"It's June, we met back at Club Berlin?"

Paul was surprised that June called him.

"Oh. Yeah, I remember you."

"Are you alright? I went back downstairs to tell you that the mob gave up chasing you and it's safe for you to go out and get home when you're just...gone. What happened?"

"Oh...right, you turned me into a sculpture to hide me from them. Right, uh...well... After you went back upstairs, I heard someone opened some kind of sewer grate or what, which by the way, you lied to me about the fact that there's no way out of here."

"I'm sorry, I don't feel it would be safe to go out that way since that sewer grate is just in front of the club entrance. It would be where some of the mob would be still outside while the others search inside. You were too panicked to be able to think rationally. Honestly, thank god you ended up going to the plaster instead. But, I'm sorry I lied to you about it. But what happened?"

Paul sighs as he realizes he has not finished answering his question.

"The real burglars broke into the basement through the grate and took me away. I could only sit helplessly as you got my mouth covered, I couldn't yell for you. Thankfully, the van drove and left the SoHo district before reaching my work place and took a sharp turn. They didn't close the door properly so I feel through the door and landed right in front of my work place. So now, I'm home..."

"Oh, thank god you're safe. I'm so glad you're alright now..."

"Yeah..." Paul slightly smiles.

"June..."

"Yes...?"

"Thank you..." Paul's smile becomes more grateful.

"...for saving my life..."

"I'm just glad you're ok, Paul... Just be careful next time, alright?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure next time haha..." Paul makes a small laugh.

"Alright, good night, Paul... I know that you had a very bad night... But, don't worry, tomorrow is another day... You'll live to see another day, everyday. And everyday, you get a chance to make it better and count... Life is complicated, Paul."

Paul felt speechless, but found words.

"Yeah...you're right... That night, I just wanted to have a good time. To be honest, it was really crazy. But thinking about what you did..." Paul breathes deeply and closes his eyes.

"...I think I did have a good time at least..."

"Yeah, well... Again, I'm glad you're ok, Paul..."

"I know... Thank you, June..."

"You're welcome, Paul... Good night..."

"Good night..." As he tells June good night, she already hangs up on the phone. Paul puts down the phone as he sighs in content. June was the only one in SoHo that he was really glad to be with that night. He honestly doesn't see himself with June, but he thinks he and June can be good friends. He's very grateful that June saved him. He'd probably be thankful for the burglars, but they didn't know he isn't a sculpture. So it felt more like a kidnapping (or stealing since they think he's a sculpture) than saving him. At least, that night had one good moment and a reminder that despite all the craziness and boring times that happens in life, there's always the good and best in life.

He wishes he could've saved Marcy and tell her the same thing that life is worth keeping for, but it was too late and not saving her in time will always be one of the biggest regrets in his life. But, what he learned from June, is that he really can't dwell on all the mistakes and regrets he made in the past, but a chance to do better and get up. That night had been a big hurdle for Paul and he fell on the track, feeling pain excruciatingly. But, Paul realizes that despite that, he got up and continued. He finally feels relieved and truly free from the darkness of SoHo.

Paul then walks to his bathroom and brushes his teeth before heading out of the bathroom and preparing to call it a night.

Thankfully, it's a free day for him tomorrow, so he rest for as long as he wants and plan whatever he wants to do to have some fun tomorrow.

 _Maybe I'll watch that After Hours movie. It looks pretty comedic._ Paul laughs and thinks about watching After Hours tomorrow.

As Paul turns off the lights, slips into his bed and deeply breathes in content, feeling at ease.

He's home.

He's safe.

He's alright.

"Tomorrow is another day..." Paul whispers to himself in comfort as finally lets sleep take over him and finally rest after a long, long day (and night)...

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed my After Hours fanfic!
> 
> I'm planning to make a bonus chapter where Paul watches the After Hours film, so yeah expect a bonus chapter some time.


End file.
